No. 4 .22 Cal lee-enfield

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lazysod

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Hey everyone, I was just wondering how much for average to good condition .22 cal lee enfields go for. Can someone give me some information on these. I am curious to know and I'm thinking of getting one.


Thanks


RL

EDIT: Posted in Equipment Exchange Forums ....... Moved to Milsurp Forum
 
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Have no idea what they are worth, but they are a LOT of fun. I'm shooting a minty Long Branch .22, 1944, still on the first box of shells and VERY nice.
 
Since no one else has answered, I'll give it a try, but I warn you, I'm no expert.
I believe a #4 in .22 would be a conversion. A military #4 converted to .22 is remarked to a #7.
A #7 in good condition goes for between $700 and $1200.
A converted #4 would be $400 - $600 depending on factory, in my opinion.
A #8 which is based on a #4 but much different would likely go for $500-$800. Hard to say since you rarely see them for sale.
Any of the other common Enfield .22 trainers go fairly cheaply - $150 to $250.
A couple of the older ones will push $600.
 
Thanks for the reply. I was curious because I want to balance out either shooting .303 rounds which are getting more expensive all the time, or paying a heafty price for a .22 lee-enfield and saving money shooting .22 shells (much cheaper) Yes, they're not the same, but practicing for a buck a bullet seems a little expensive. What if I got a similar peep sight set up in a cheap .22 and practiced with that? The reason I want to practice with a peep sight is to get used to open sight shooting, which is what my .303 is set up for. (PH 4 sites) I wanted to simulate that practice using an affordable alternative. Now, I know they are not the same (calibre, range, recoil blah blah blah), but just for general practice, it would be nice. There is also the option of reloading but I am new to this gig and have never done it before. What would you choose as an alternative? Are there other options out there? Thanks again for your time.


RL
 
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There is a Cooey Model 82, whichis what the Canadian troops used to train for the SMLE, but I believe it sports SMLE style sights. THere are rear apeture sights available for it though if you want to go historically accurate.

FOr cheaper you could pick up a Cooey model 75, which is just the Model 82 without the full wood stock, and you could play around with it yourself, put on an apeture sight and maybe weight it in order to simulate the heft of a No.4.

If you're not going for style at all, I'd suggest just picking up a cheap bolt .22, with a peep sight or with an aftermarket to install, and then be creative in weighting the rifle so it feels like youe No.4. SInce it's a .22 you wont really be able to reach out past 100-150 yds with any reasonable expectation at accuracy, but you'll be able to make yourself more porficient within that range, for a hell of a lot chaper than useing your deer rifle.
 
PS: If you're rally practicing for hunting situations, practice bolting the rifle without bringing it down from your shoulder. It's just a good habit to form.
 
Skippy said:
I'm not sure how accurate this is. I'd kill to see one in that price range.
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Was just checking my records - these were all bought in the last couple of years.
My first Lee Enfield #2, sporterized, was $160 plus taxes at auction. I had to have the bore sleeved at Epps to get it to shoot - big scratch in the bore and bad crown.
My second Lee Enfield #2 is full wood and was $175 at the Woodstock gun show. Great shooter.
My third Lee Enfield #2 is full wood and has the rare rear sight guard and a windage adjustable rear sight. However the charger bridge is missing. That was $160 at the Woodstock gun show.
My fourth Lee Enfield #2 is sporterized and has been rechambered to .222. It was $125 plus taxes at auction.
My Lee Enfield, Rifle, RF Short. Mk.II in very nice condition complete with volley sights was $264 plus taxes at auction. Very pleased with this one, since seen two of these for sale for $600.
I don't have a price marked on my Lee Enfield #8 from auction. As I remember, I paid about $400.
And I know it's not a Lee, but my Martini Henry Enfield converted by Parker Hale was $325 at the Orangeville gun show.
 
Slash5 said:
Was just checking my records - these were all bought in the last couple of years.
My first Lee Enfield #2, sporterized, was $160 plus taxes at auction. I had to have the bore sleeved at Epps to get it to shoot - big scratch in the bore and bad crown.
My second Lee Enfield #2 is full wood and was $175 at the Woodstock gun show. Great shooter.
My third Lee Enfield #2 is full wood and has the rare rear sight guard and a windage adjustable rear sight. However the charger bridge is missing. That was $160 at the Woodstock gun show.
My fourth Lee Enfield #2 is sporterized and has been rechambered to .222. It was $125 plus taxes at auction.
My Lee Enfield, Rifle, RF Short. Mk.II in very nice condition complete with volley sights was $264 plus taxes at auction. Very pleased with this one, since seen two of these for sale for $600.
I don't have a price marked on my Lee Enfield #8 from auction. As I remember, I paid about $400.
And I know it's not a Lee, but my Martini Henry Enfield converted by Parker Hale was $325 at the Orangeville gun show.
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some nice finds and prices there.

I havn't seen enough on sale to know what range of prices to expect but the ones I have seen are all $200 and up.
 
Yeah, properly speaking, a "Number 4" in .22" WOULD be a conversion, and not at all hard to do. You only need a barrel, bolthead, firingpin that you can chop and extractor..... the special ramp as a magazine follower is an extra.

But the first run of these rifles were called the .22" LONG BRANCH 1944, in three lines as shown, and were made during War two. AFTER the war, the type was standardized as the Rifle C No. 7 Mk. 1 and another, and I believe larger, run was completed.

No matter, whatever you call it, the thing is about 95% Number 4 components and not hard to work on at all. And they are a bag of fun at the range. Likely you will find that they prefer standard-velocity .22 shells to the super-velocity types now so common.

If a guy had a spare Number 4 with a bad bore, some time and spare p[arts, the conversion could be done with not a lot of grief....... just need a barrel-vise and action wrench for taking off the .303 barrel so very carefully; you could do everything else on a bench-top. And it would be fun.
 
I've been watching for a Jungle Carbine with a bad bore. Get the barrel sleeved to 22 and find or convert a bolthead, make a firing pin. Instant .22 #5.
I'm just not sure what the gunsmith could do with the chamber - I doubt the size of the sleeve would clean up the chamber. Maybe Locktite or solder a plug in the chamber and then drill it out for the sleeve?
 
Thanks once again for the reply. I took a look at the cooey model 82 and to me that might be the way to go for affordability. The problem then is finding one and what the cost of the rifle is. In my experience and reading of the cooey model .22's they are pretty cheap are they not? My dad still has his styleright special .22 cooey. I think he paid 13 bucks for it. Anyway, thank you to all that replied and I guess I'll figure something out eventually. I would love to see some day how a person rechambers, or converts a rifle. That stuff is WAY beyond me. For now I guess I'll just keep shooting my .303, which isn't a bad thing.
 
I have converted a No. 4 to .22. I turned a scrap of .303 barrel until it was the contour of a .303 case, and then bonded it into the barrel. The liner drill was then run through, and the liner installed. I used a Redman's liner from Brownells. These are 5/16 nominal diameter. Put an extension on a 5/16 drill, and this will clean out the .303 bore nicely. I used a CNo. 7 bolthead, but a No. 4 head could be converted easily enough. Cut off the firing pin nose, solder it into the bolt head, then drill for a two diameter firing pin, make a firing pin out of drill rod. The shoulder of the altered firing pin will strike your new firing pin. You will have to make an extractor cut and an extractor. An interesting project for a No. 4 with a bad bore. Just keep in mind that a .303 breechface and boltface are separated by the headspace gap. This must be eliminated for .22; there must be only a slight gap between the faces for a .22. The .303 barrel shank can be modified to bring the face closer to the bolt, or the chamber insert can be adjusted to take up this gap.
I have the proper piloted drill for opening out .22 barrels for lining, but the .303 groove diameter is so close to the liner diameter that a piloted drill isn't necessary, and the 5/16 drill may not even clean out all traces of rifling or bore roughness. I use epoxy for securing the liner.
 
In high school cadets we had (I think) full stock Cooey rifles with no bolts for parade ground drill. We had about half a dozen #4/.22's that loaded single shot over a flat topped magazine. We used to shoot in the old gym using a backstop with steel plate behind compostion board that the targets were pinned to. The backstop was only about 4' X 2 1/2' and was wheeled in for target practice. I can't remember anyon ever missiing it. Can you imagine the fuss it would cause now if someone wanted to take target practice in a school gym now with that backstop? I wonder when they took all the rifles out of the high schools? Were they sold by Crown Assets Disposals?
 
Be very careful fellas, I know of a A$$ in Calgary who makes up {NEW} C#7 .22 trainers from parts and sells them as mint WW2 rifles.:mad:
 
y2k said:
Be very careful fellas, I know of a A$$ in Calgary who makes up {NEW} C#7 .22 trainers from parts and sells them as mint WW2 rifles.:mad:
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Him and about 100 others. The biggest giveaway to a post-factory assembled/faked Cno7 is the serial number. Usually a flat spot can be found where the origional Cno7 serial number was located. The numbers were removed and the area touched up when the army dis-assembled the rifles and sent the parts in to stores. The receivers are usually liberated from military service at some point and restamped, usually with a serial number that either does not match the receivers' date/serial range, or else with a number that matches whatever bolt they had handy and is not even a Cno7 range serial number. I find that 2 out of 3 Cno7s which I see on the market fall into one of these two categories. Some of the Calgary ones fall into a whole new category, with either #4 LB receivers re-stamped or re-engraved, or in some cases, savage or other make receivers having their origional markings ground off and new markings engraved.
Buyer beware.
 
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